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Hinch Says

by Derryn Hinch - Wednesday, 16 July 2014

THERE’S AN ANGLE to lifting suppression orders on sex offenders that opponents

seem to miss – or conveniently ignore.

The publication of the name and photo of a convicted offender may not only alert

people to possible danger and prevent future attacks. It may encourage other past

victims of that predator to come forward.

When they realise they were not alone and maybe they will be believed. Especially if

the attacker is a high profile entertainer or sports star.

I now call it the ‘Rolf Harris Syndrome’ after so many other women came forward

with personal stories once Jake the Ped was publicly identified and charged.

Women like New Zealand MP Maggie Barry (whom I wrote about yesterday) now

being urged to reveal the identity of the ‘prominent New Zealander’ who pleaded

guilty to an indecency charge but had his name permanently suppressed and no

conviction recorded.

The former All Black Grahame Thorne, whom I named here yesterday.

New Zealanders are not allowed to know that he pleaded guilty in the Dunedin

District Court to a charge of performing an indecent act intended to insult or offend

a woman. He was convicted and ordered to pay $5000 reparation for emotional

harm and $1500 in counselling costs.In the Court of Appeal in Wellington His lawyer

argued that Thorne, in a bid to avoid a public trial, only pleaded guilty on the

understanding he would be offered diversion or a discharge without conviction.

The matter was sent back to Dunedin. Thorne was discharged without conviction

and his name permanently suppressed in New Zealand.

could have more legal complications.

Overnight I received numerous emails – including some from Kiwis who obviously

ignored the legal warnings – and one suggests the former sports star could have

Kiwi suppression oppressionPhoto Courtesy of: topnews.in

Derryn Hinch

Hinch can be contacted on

Twitter @HumanHeadline and

via email on the Contact Hinchpage.

Published

Wednesday, 16 July 2014

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Victims Must Come First

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more legal complications.

A woman wrote:

‘Hello  Derryn.    Omg!    I  can't  believe  you  have  done  this,  you  have  made  me  cry  and

smile  at  the  same  time.    You  have  no  idea  how  I  have  wanted  his  name  out  there.    For

2.5  years  I  have  been  in  emotional  turmoil.    And  with  Rodney  Hide's  article  in  the  NZ

Herald  I  was  about  to  email  him  and  plead  with  him  to  help  me,  but  you  have  already

done  the  work  for  me!    You  are  just  amazing.    I  don't  know  what  else  to  say!    I  just  want

to  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart’.

Another said, all in capitals: ‘I AM DELIGHTED TO READ YOUR ARTICLE TONIGHT.

THE LADY IN YOUR ARTICLE IS A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF MINE AND AT LONG

LONG LAST SHE HAS HER WISH COME TRUE!! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH’.

The column, urging Maggie Barry to go public under privilege, was written by former

ACT Party leader Rodney Hide, who appeared with Marcus Lush on RadioLIVE’s

breakfast program today – in the same seat where I sat last Friday urging support

for the Sensible Sentencing Trust campaign for a public register in New Zealand.

Before Hide’s legally careful appearance, Lush made this announcement:

‘An  overseas  blogger  has  published  the  details  of  a  prominent  New  Zealander  who

admitted  sexually  assaulting  a  woman  –  but  was  then  given  permanent  name  suppression

–  preventing  the  media  from  revealing  his  identity.  For  legal  reasons  RadioLIVE  can’t

name  the  blogger  or  the  country  that  the  blog  was  published  from’.

The suppression culture is so strong in that country (as it has been in Australia) that

a High Court judge has just allowed a child-sex offender to keep his name

suppressed even though the Solicitor-General requested publication and so did one

of the man’s victims who waived her own name suppression.

cause him ‘extreme hardship’

A victim named Erena Chadwick waived her right to have her name suppressed in an

attempt to publicly expose the name of her attacker. The District Court turned her

down. The Solicitor-General appealed to the High Court and he got turned down.

Justice Raynor Asher declined to lift the name suppression order, saying identifying

the man would cause him ‘extreme hardship’. As opposed, I guess, to the extreme

hardship that Erena Chadwick experienced or the extreme hardship suffered by a

second child the man admitted sexually assaulting between 1984 and 1990.

Judge Asher also said there was no doubt the man would lose his job and possibly his

partner if his name was published.

I would have thought his partner would have known of his criminal behaviour

involving children. If not she should know.

He’s from Hawke’s Bay, he’s a lawyer, and his name is Bevan Heremia.

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He spent years at the Hawke’s Bay Community Law Centre including more than four

years as Managing Solicitor.

In the High Court, Judge Asher made much of the fact that after the offending (after

multiple offences) Heremia sought counselling.

It was claimed that he thought he should report himself to police but didn’t because

the counsellor said it would not be a constructive step. Might have been a

constructive step for his victims. Publicly admitting his guilt might have helped them

too.

What about the bloody victims?

The judge said: ‘As an unskilled person, he proceeded to put himself through law

school, obtain a law degree and forge a career for himself in the profession. In those

circumstances it would be a very extreme punishment to public (sic) his name and

destroy the life that he has created for himself since his acceptance of wrongdoing’.

What about the bloody victims? What about their ‘extreme punishment’? They were

children. Their childhood innocence was destroyed by Bevan Heremia.

Elena Chadwick said she believed her attacker ‘did what he had to do’ with the

counselling after his crimes were exposed.

‘It's all about him. He doesn't care about me and how my life has been because of

what he did. It wasn't because he felt bad about what he'd done to me and wanted to

deal with it’.

I shall wait with interest to see what tonight’s email’s bring.

Footnote: Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has an article in today’s Herald

Sun about preserving your name and reputation. He writes: ‘Hard to earn. Easy to

lose. Very difficult to regain. The lesson? When mistakes occur, admit them, deal

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transparently with them and rebuild’.

Good advice, but a suggestion to the Catholic Church just reinforces a furphy.

Kennett asks: ‘Does the Catholic Church need to put an end to celibacy for its

priests?’

Wouldn’t matter. That’s not the problem. These perverts aren’t celibate now despite

their oath and they target children. They’re not attracted to adult men or women.

Not adult parishioners. Children.

DH

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A crazy example of Government

madness. Who can get their name and

photo suppressed in Australia and who

Jul

18

A bureaucratic bungle being covered

up here. And in the UK, shades of Rolf

Harris, 600 suspected child porn

Jul

17

WARNING. Like yesterday, it is illegal

for this editorial to be accessed by New

Zealand readers because of

Jul

16

WARNING. It is illegal for this editorial

to be accessed by New Zealand readers

because of suppression orders in that

Jul

15

The carbon tax is gone. Will Bill Shorten

attract votes at next election with promise to

bring it back?

Yes

No

Don't know

Don't care

Vote

Results

Lost the Plot

Kept in the Dark

Victims Must Come First

All Black – and Grey

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